The North Bay city says a “malicious software” infected its systems on Friday morning, impacting public safety and other city services.
An aerial view of the Suisun Slough in Suisun City, Solano County, on Aug. 4, 2025. The North Bay city says a “malicious software” infected its systems on Friday morning, impacting public safety and other city services. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Suisun City has shut down its computer network and declared a state of emergency after a cybersecurity attack impacted services like police and fire dispatch in the community.
The city said “malicious software” infected information technology systems around 5:45 a.m. on Friday.
The attack “hit critical public safety operations, including 911 routing, police and fire dispatch, records and City services,” according to a statement on the city’s website. Suisun City Police dispatchers began taking calls through the Solano County dispatch center and officials activated its emergency operations center.
“From a public safety standpoint, there’s no threat to the public at this time,” said Michael Elm with the Suisun City Public Information Office. “For a resident experiencing daily life in Suisun City, there really isn’t anything going to be any impact to them other than maybe not being able to pay their water bill or process permits at the moment.”
The city said it shut down its entire IT network to save evidence for a federal investigation. Suisun City’s IT system is set up to automatically shut down when it detects an intruder, according to Elm.
Elm said that there was no interruption to emergency services or to dispatchers being able to answer 911 calls; however, some software became unusable because of the network shutdown.
On Saturday morning, City Council members held a special meeting to declare a state of emergency, which the city said allows it to “quickly access emergency support services and to recoup costs.”
Elm said “a lot of the investigation” will be starting tomorrow when private and government cybersecurity experts come to the city. The entire system will remain shut down while the city clears each function to bring operations back online.
“Cybersecurity attacks on small cities are common,” Wagner said. “Criminals see them as easy prey.”
Suisun City is working with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the California Office of Emergency Services to restore systems.
The city does not have an estimate for when its services may come back online.
KQED’s Christopher Alam contributed to this report.